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Saturday, December 08, 2012

This casserole with brown rice, turkey Italian sausage, and green bell pepper is delicious for an easy dinner.

Sometimes I just pull leftovers out of the fridge and come up with something that turns out so well I decide to make the recipe again to take photos for the blog. That's exactly what happened with this Easy Brown Rice Casserole with Turkey Italian Sausage and Green Pepper. I had leftover brown rice in the fridge, and some turkey Italian sausage that I'd thawed out and never used. In the vegetable crisper I had those 2/$1.00 green bell peppers that are so good this time of year.

I cooked those things together into a tasty casserole topped with some low-fat cheese and decided it was a keeper, so a few days later I made it again and took these photos. As long as you have leftover brown rice to start out with, this is an easy recipe idea that can be adapted in infinite ways. If you'd like to add other ingredients like sauteed mushrooms, red bell peppers, sauteed zucchini, sauteed sweet potato cubes, or even Parmesan cheese mixed into the rice, please have fun with it.

Finely chop a large onion and a green bell pepper.

Saute the onion and bell pepper in some olive oil. When they're almost done, mix in 1 tsp. Italian seasoning mix and cook for a minute or two. You can also add a little ground fennel if you like fennel like I do. (Forgot to take a photo of that step.)

Remove the sauteed onions and green peppers, squeeze turkey Italian sausage out of the casing, and saute until it's nicely browned. (I wouldn't make this with pork Italian sausage because it has so much more fat I think the casserole would be too greasy.)

Mix the sauteed vegetables and cooked brown rice in with the sausage and warm it for a few minutes.

Put the mixture into a casserole dish that you've sprayed with olive oil or non-stick spray.

Top with about 3/4 cup of low-fat cheese. I used a four-cheese blend that had 6 grams of fat in 1/4 cup.

Bake about 25 minutes, or just until the cheese is melted and nicely browned and the whole mixture is piping hot.

Easy Brown Rice Casserole with Turkey Italian Sausage and Green Bell Pepper
(Makes about 4 servings; recipe created by Kalyn as a way to use leftover brown rice she had in the fridge.)

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a large heavy frying pan. Add the chopped onion and green bell pepper and saute until the vegetables are cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. Add the Italian seasoning (and ground fennel if using) and saute 1-2 minutes more. Remove the cooked vegetables to a bowl.

Add 2 tsp. more oil to the frying pan (or less if you're using a non-stick pan.) Squeeze the turkey Italian sausage out of the casing and saute until it's fully cooked and nicely browned, breaking apart with a turner as it cooks. This will take about 5-6 minutes, but don't rush the browning.

When sausage is done put the cooked vegetables and brown rice into the pan and mix with the sausage. Cook this mixture a few minutes, until the rice is warmed through. Put the mixture into a casserole dish that you've sprayed with olive oil or non-stick spray. (I used a dish that was 7" x 9" but a slightly larger size will work.) Sprinkle the cheese over the top.

Put the casserole into the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and lightly browned and the whole thing is piping hot, about 20-25 minutes. Serve hot.

This kept well in the fridge and reheated well in the microwave, although the green pepper flavor was stronger after it was reheated.

Nutritional Information?
I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you.

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Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

39 comments:

This brings back all kinds of memories. My mother used to do the same thing trying to make ends meet and then raising my own boys, busy weeknights found us mixing what we had on hand just like you do. A delicious combo, Kalyn! I'm a big fan of rice dishes but need to try in more in casseroles like this.

Thanks Kelly. The funny thing is that if my mom had put green pepper in a casserole like this, I would have turned up my nose at it, but now I would like it much better with the green pepper in it! I do love experimenting with different combinations like this!

I always feel so frugal when I turn leftovers into something else, and I feel especially clever when that something else turns out to be delicious. Most often I use leftovers in soup, but I love the idea of this casserole.

I can't wait to try this. My wife and I have been trying to have healthier diets, but she is very resistant to both turkey sausage and brown rice. It's not that she finds either one bad; it's that whenever we have tried to use them, it's in substitution, and her palate is set for the ingredient being replaced. I think this will be a good way to try and get her to see them on their own terms.

Sausage and peppers is one of life's more perfect combinations and I think we can all agree that most things taste better in casserole form! Total comfort food! i love that it's just a mash-up of leftovers!

Hi Kalyn,We enjoyed your casserole. I ended up adding quite a bit more rice though. Actually, I prepared a full cup of uncooked brown rice and ended up using all of the cooked rice in it. If I make it again I will be sure to drain the fat off the turkey sausage before baking. The reheated leftovers were even better.- Michael

I loved it. My kids don't like brown rice plain, esp served with beans. I love the nutty texture of brown rice. I cooked a rice cooker full and already had some ground chicken with red pepper and onions sauteed a few days prior. Throwing this together was so easy! Hubby ate 2 servings. The cheese on top under the broiler was nice and crunchy!!! I will try it with quinoa next time!

One reason I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight was because I didn't want to have to count the calories, carbs, or points for everything I ate. Since I already spend 4-5 hours on every recipe and I'm not calculating that information for my own use, I'm not able to include it for recipes on the blog. If you want to figure out the nutritional information yourself, a site that's very easy to use is Calorie Count. Just copy the recipe and enter the number of servings and it will calculate everything for you. (You may have to edit to remove some extra descriptive words in the recipe or change things like 2 tsp. + 1 tsp. to say 3 tsp., but it's really very easy to use.)

I came across your site recently and you have an amazing site. Did try Onion gratin, stuffed green pepper and stuffed mushrooms already. Turned out amazing while helping me stick to a healthy diet.. Thank You!!

Thanks for joining the conversation! I love hearing from readers and even though I can't always reply to every comment, I will always answer specific questions on a recipe as soon as possible. Sometimes I'm answering by iPhone, so my replies may be short!

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